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A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/01/02 at 02:00:04
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [i]***We begin today a series of articles on pilgrimage which aim at capturing the feelings experienced by a person who knows what pilgrimage is all about as he goes through this experience of a lifetime. At the same time, we intend to go through the duties of pilgrimage pointing out how they should be performed, without making too many stops in our narrative. We hope that this will be of benefit to all would-be pilgrims as they prepare for their great journey. We pray the Almighty to facilitate our task and make our work useful and give us of His great bounty - Adil Salahi, Religious Editor, Arab News***[/i] [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 1[/center] Our coach has just left Jeddah on its way to the sacred city of Makkah. Jeddah is a modern city with wide roads, high buildings, and plenty of traffic. That is all the impression that one can form as one makes the journey from the airport toward Makkah, using the Jeddah bypass and the motorway.  Everyone in the coach is a pilgrim and as soon as they have settled themselves and the journey began they resumed their chanting of "talbiyah." They all seem very happy. Old men with all the marks of checkered life experience painted on their faces. Men in their prime, strong, confident with a feeling of satisfaction radiating through their faces. They all join in a chorus repeating the same phrases which make it clear that they embarked on this journey in response to Allah's invitation and for the sole purpose of earning forgiveness. "Labbaik allahumma labbaik. Labbaika la shareeka laka labbaik. Innal hamda wan-ni'mata laka walmulk. La shareeka lak." We come from different countries. Our features clearly indicate that. Moreover, our pronunciation of the same phrases clearly indicates that although we all know these words very well that they come naturally to us, certain sounds are not easy to pronounce for some of us. Nevertheless, we all repeat the same phrases, declare submission to Allah, aim at achieving the same goal and aspire to win the same prize. What we have come here for is a jewel with which to crown our lives. We are determined that we shall not go back home without it. This is not a materialistic view of what should be a spiritual endeavor. It is only a practical expression of hopes that we have been entertaining for several years. For my part, this coach trip seems to be the doorway which ushers me thorough to the achievement of a goal upon which my thoughts have been concentrated for several years. It has not been so easy to save all the money that is required to offer the pilgrimage with my parents and my wife and to allow for any contingency. Now that we are here, however, it all seems behind us. We are just about to begin the greatest event in lives. My preparations have included a great deal of reading and clearing my doubts with scholars. I wanted to know every aspect of pilgrimage and what is right to do and what should be avoided. I must admit that it has not made very easy reading. It takes time to understand what every duty involves and in what order duties should be performed. I was fortunate that I met a few weeks ago a scholar who had been to pilgrimage several times and has developed a charming way of explaining pilgrimage to lay people like myself. I feel confident that I can go through with this experience, knowing how to do every duty in relative comfort. I feel that I have already benefited by what I have learned. The first thing was, of course, to enter into the state of ihram at the right time and place. I have done exactly as that teacher told me and it was a great help. Just before laving home, I put on my ihram garments. I did not make the verbal declaration of embarking on doing the Umrah, as I have opted for the tamattu' method of ihram. That would have been far too early and would have made it absolutely necessary for me to observe the restrictions of ihram, with regard to clothes and to all other aspects, until I have finished my Umrah. To do that at home would have been unwise, because anything could have happened to delay or prevent my departure. What I did was simply to put on the garments in preparation for entering into the state of consecration, or ihram, at the right place and the right moment. Had my departure been delayed I would have been able to put on my ordinary clothes without violating any rules. Other pilgrims on the same plane did not do the same. About an hour before we were due to land, pilgrims started queuing outside the toilets in order to change into ihram garments. Some of them changed in the plane itself. That seemed quite unsightly. Moreover, it was very inconvenient for both pilgrims and other passengers. Some of them had great difficulty in wrapping themselves with the bottom towel. None of us seemed to be used to wearing such a towel or a mere piece of cloth round his waist. To try to do it in between the seats on the plane or in the very narrow and compact toilets presented considerable difficulty. I have not had to contend with any of that. When the pilot announced that the plane reached the point of meeqat, i.e. when ihram was necessary, I made my verbal intention of doing the Umrah, and that was easy enough. I must say that making that verbal declaration filled me with a feeling the like of which I have never experienced before. It was a declaration of a response to an invitation by Allah. I felt that the Lord, the Almighty, the Creator of the universe has extended a personal invitation to me, an insignificant man from a place the great majority of mankind have never heard of. Yet here is little humble me accepting this invitation and embarking on this great journey. What a unique feeling - a feeling of direct contact, a close relationship with Allah, the Almighty, the Lord of the universe! Since I made this declaration and I am repeating, at every chance, these words of talbiyah. The great thing about them is that they emphasize the Oneness of Allah and that the purpose of this journey is to glorify Him and to respond to Him humbly, with devotion and total dedication. These words mean: "I respond to you, my Lord. I respond to you, for there is no deity save you. All praise, all bounty and all kingdom belong to you. There is no God except You." How true and how inspiring! We landed safely and went through the formalities. We have taken this coach which is heading to the city the visiting of which is the dream of every Muslim. I cannot describe my feelings as we approach the city. How can one describe the imminent realization of a hope that he has been cherishing for years on end? If the object of his hopes is something of this world, he would be most thrilled, happy and excited at its approach. I have been hoping for something much greater and I am now on the verge of bringing my hopes into the real world. It is only a relatively short ride and we are in Makkah. The open, fast motorway has led us into the city with its very busy, congested roads. I could not have expected otherwise with the great influx of pilgrims. This delays our visit to the Kaaba, and the prayer which I have prepared to say on my first view of it, but we cannot complain. We have to be patient and accept what comes our way. I have asked scholars and other pilgrims but it seems that what has been recommended by former scholars cannot be followed nowadays. They suggest that one should do the tawaf of arrival even before looking for a place to stay. Each group of pilgrims would be divided with some staying with the luggage while the others do their tawaf. When they have finished, they switch over. Nowadays, with the great influx of pilgrims and with thousands coming every day, that would create great problems and would inconvenience the city authorities, its population and other pilgrims. We have, then, to find our accommodation first. Having spoken to our host, the Mutawwif, or Mu'allim, as he is apparently called by pilgrims from other countries, we can now proceed on our first visit to the Kaaba, the first house of worship ever raised for mankind. On our way to the Grand Mosque, some of our group wanted to make sure that our entry would be from the door known as "salam." This is the door through which the Prophet entered the Grand Mosque, or the Haram, when he came from Madinah. I have explained to them that the Prophet took the most direct route to the Haram, and that happened to be through this particular door which came later to be known by this name, Salam or greeting. We need not go round the Grand Mosque and delay our arrival. As we were approaching, we repeated the phrases of talbiyah. They sounded far more beautiful than the most entertaining music. A feeling of apprehension was becoming stronger and stronger in my heart as we drew nearer. When we went thorough the door, my heart moved faster with expectation. The Mosque was full, although there was still a long time before prayer was due. This was no wonder, because people would like to stay in the Haram as long as possible. As we walked through the recent most beautiful and grand extension, we could not see the Kaaba. We moved on and there it was. I stopped, overwhelmed by a feeling of awe. I am now at the Kaaba, the place to which I have turned every time I stood up for prayer. This is the building erected by two noble prophets, Abraham and Ishmael, to be a focal point for human worship and for total dedication to Allah alone. I have learned that one's first prayer as one looks at the Kaaba for the first time will undoubtedly be answered. My lips moved with the prayer I have prepared for this moment: "My Lord, admit me to heaven and spare me the difficulty of having to account for what I have done." I followed that with long supplication for all the good things I could remember. Although my parents were with me, standing next to me, I prayed for them. It is they who have planted the love of Islam, and the desire to be a good Muslim in me. It is they who have taught me to be always conscious of Allah and to seek His pleasure. For this alone, if not for everything else they have done for me, they deserve to be mentioned in my prayer now, at this time, when I know that my prayers are answered. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 17 February 1997[/i] More to follow, Insha Allah... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/01/02 at 23:50:36
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 2[/center] Here I am, inside the Haram, or the Grand Mosque, for the first time in my life, looking at the Kaaba, the first House ever built for mankind as a focal point for their worship. Here I am, making that prayer which is certain to be answered, as we are told by the Prophet, the last of all messengers, Muhammad (peace be on him). I feel that Allah has bestowed limitless grace on me, for having enabled me to come here, to stand in the Haram and pray Him before I start my pilgrimage duties. I never experienced any real difficulty in putting my thoughts in words, but I find it impossible to give any adequate description of my feelings now. Indeed, human language is not adequately equipped to communicate something which is well beyond the ordinary realm of human experience. What I feel is unique, profound, sublime. Here is little, humble me, admitted into the place where Allah's mercy descends on His servants. I look up at my parents and my wife. Like me, all three of them are overwhelmed by this experience. It shows in their faces, and it shows in their tears. Without a word, we move on. My father repeats praising Allah. I know that he is simply expressing his thanks and gratitude to Allah for making it possible for him to come here and offer the duties of Umrah and pilgrimage. What we have to do now is our first tawaf. All pilgrims have to do this tawaf. For those like us, who are starting with Umrah, having opted for the tamattu' method of ihraam, this tawaf counts as the one of Umrah. To those who have chosen the ifraad method, which means that they are doing the pilgrimage only, and may be doing the Ummh later, this is their tawaf of arrival. It is a greeting they offer to the Kaaba. We look at the great number of people doing the tawaf. It is a great sight, something the like of which we have never seen before. It is our first visit, and we have to make sure of our starting point. That is not difficult to achieve. This semi-circular area is the one known as Hajr Ismaeel. Tawaf begins, then, at the other side, starting with the comer of the black stone, which is the one closer to Maqam Ibraheem, taking into view the direction of tawaf, which is anti-clockwise. We approach that place with difficulty, and sure enough we find adequate signs pointing to it. There is the distinctive light on the corner of the mosque, exactly opposite the black stone. There are also so many people trying to reach the black stone to kiss it. Unfortunately, they overcrowd the place and prevent one another from kissing it. Some of them seem to push others which is terrible. They are supposed to be on worship duty, and yet they hurt one another. Kissing the black stone is merely a Sunnah, but hurting another Muslim is forbidden. We have learned that when the place is overcrowded, a signal with one's hand from a distant spot is equally adequate. We are about one yard before we come parallel with the black stone and we make our declaration to do the tawaf. As we move, another sign on the floor indicates the exact spot for beginning every turn round the Kaaba. I have laid my right shoulder bare, and so did my father. This is Sunnah in the first three rounds of this first tawaf only. People think that the right shoulder must remain bare as long as one is wearing ihraam garments, but this is not correct. It is indeed discouraged to let one's shoulder bare when one prays. We are recommended to do the first three rounds of our tawaf jogging but this seems impossible. We will try if we can, but it seems possible only in part of each round. As we pass the starting point, we seem to find ourselves in a scramble. The position of Maqam Ibraheem makes this area particularly difficult. But what makes it even worse is that some people have carved out an area where they stand in the midst of people doing the tawaf in order to allow one or two of their number to pray the Sunnah of tawaf. They have learned that the proper place to offer this Sunnah is at Maqam lbraheem and they want to be as close to it as possible. That practice is absolutely wrong, because it causes such a great inconvenience to others. What is meant by the Qur'anic verse which mentions Maqam Ibraheem and the order to make it a place for prayer is to pray behind it. If one prays 50 yards away so that he does not cause inconvenience to people doing the tawaf, he is doing absolutely well. Indeed, the two raka'ahs of tawaf can be offered anywhere in the Haram. These are my first thoughts on my first round of tawaf. As we pass this area, the going becomes easier and I have a chance to recollect my thoughts. Very quickly, I regain that great feeling of being a recipient of Allah's infinite grace. Here I am walking the same round as the Prophet, and indeed as many other Prophets, starting with Abraham and Ismaeel who built this place for worship. We are celebrating Allah's praises. We glorify Him and declare our submission to His will. Some people are reciting from the Qur'an. Others are saying prayers which they read from a book. There is no need for that, because there is no set prayer for tawaf or any part of it. Groups of people doing the tawaf seem to have appointed leaders, with each such leader holding a book and reading prayers from it with the rest of his group repeating after him. That is a naive way of worshiping Allah. It is better for them to pray individually, with each one saying the prayers he feels the need to say. This is a place where prayers are answered, so people must take the opportunity and pray for themselves, for their forgiveness and for others. Alternatively, they can praise Allah and glorify Him or read from the Qur'an. I have explained this to my companions and each one of us is engaged in his or her worship. They do not need to tell me what they feel. I know it because I am experiencing something absolutely special. I know that true devotion to Allah and true submission to Him have come to mean to me something special indeed. We finish our tawaf, and we ease out slowly and gradually in order not to cause inconvenience to anyone as we come out. We choose a convenient spot well beyond Maqam Ibraheem to offer our two taka'ahs of tawaf. When we have finished them, we supplicate to Allah, making all sorts of requests. The one which we cherish most is that He will accept our worship and give us the reward only He can give. My father asks me how can we make our way back into the tawaf in order to stand at the Multazim, just beneath the door of the Kaaba. I told him that this is only a Sunnah, and it may be preferable that he does not attempt it, in view of the great crowd. I, however, venture on my own. Fortunately, there was a gap or a slowing down in the movement of the people doing the tawaf and I managed to find my way right through. There are many people waiting for their turn and eventually I can take hold of the prominent stones underneath the door and put my body against the stones of the Kaaba. I am out of this world. I am overwhelmed by awe. I feel that I can address Allah, in His majesty, directly, and feel that my prayers are heard and answered instantly, without delay. "Please, my Lord, I have done too many sins, forgive me. Your forgiveness is much greater than people's sins and disobedience. You are the forgiving, the acceptor of repentance. I regret everything I have ever done which contravenes your commands." I could stay in that spot for hours, but I must allow a chance to others and I must join my parents and my wife to continue with our Umrah. We go down to Zamzam to drink, because it is recommended after tawaf. Every move here is accompanied by prayer and supplication. Before we drink, each, of us makes a prayer. And we go ahead toward the little hill of As-Safa. Here we start our other duty of Umrah, namely, Saie. We stand there, facing the Kaaba and raising our hands towards it, glorifying Allah. We repeat: "Allahu Akbar," which means Allah is the Greatest. We declare His Oneness and we start walking toward Al-Marwah. Shortly we come to the part which is clearly marked with two green lights on the wall and ceiling. This part of the distance we cover jogging before we resume our walking. My father insists on jogging, although he is an old man. When we have covered that distance, we wait a little for my mother and my wife to catch up with us. They continue walking, jogging is neither recommended to nor required of women. As we walk, we pray, we glorify Allah and praise Him. We read the Qur'an or we walk in silence, meditating. We approach the other hill of Al-Marwah, and as we go up, we repeat the Qur'anic verse which states that those two hills are shrines for pilgrims to walk in between. As we turn, we signal to the Kaaba with our hands and repeat our declaration that Allah is the greatest. We have covered the distance once and we have to do six more. Walking from one hill to the other counts as one round and we have to do seven rounds in total. We have started at As-Safa and we finish at Al-Marwah. After our seventh walk we stand there, praying and supplicating as long as we wish. We remember our families at home and pray Allah for them. Many people have asked us to pray for them here, and we pry to remember everyone of them. When we have finished, all there remains of our Umrah duties is to cut short our hair, for which purpose I have brought a pair of scissors. Obviously, my mother and my wife cannot shorten their hair until we go home. I take off a bit of my father's hair and he does the same for me. We look at each other. His face radiates with happiness as do the faces of the two women. I need say no more about my own happiness. We have completed our Umrah and that is great. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 24 February 1997[/i] Insha Allah, more to follow... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

Re: A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/02/02 at 23:46:53
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 3[/center] When we finished our Umrah, we did not leave the Haram immediately. Prayers were due shortly and we wanted to offer our first obligatory prayer in the Haram. Who can afford to miss such a prayer, when its reward is better than, or at least equal to, the reward of 100,000 prayers anywhere else? When we prayed, this was again a remarkable experience. For the first time ever, I saw people joining in the same prayer, but praying in opposite directions. This may sound strange, but it is the most natural way to pray in the Haram. The Kaaba served as the center of a circle and worshipers joined in the prayer in ever expanding circles. We looked all around us and everything seemed remarkable. The worshipers have come from all parts of the world. One can try to place some of them by their features, but that will account only for a small portion of them. What is clear, however, is that people have come from all corners of the globe to share in a great act of worship which is the very symbol of pure devotion and complete submission to Allah. We went back to our accommodation and the two women released themselves from ihraam by shortening their hair a little. Here again, at the Mutawwif's place, there are pilgrims from areas which are so far apart. I have tried to meet as many of them as I could, managing to communicate with most of them in one way or another. With some, however, communication was almost impossible. But we, nevertheless, had common language in what relates to the purpose of our journey and to our worship. That was sufficient to make each of us warm to the other whenever we met. This is a remarkable quality of Islam. It is a great unifying force which brings together people from different races, nationalities, countries and continents. In no time, they feel themselves to be brothers belonging to a single community. Our life soon settled into a regular pattern. The most important thing to do in this blessed city is to visit the Haram as frequently as possible. This meant that our day was punctuated by the times when we went to the Haram to offer our obligatory prayers. We soon discovered that it was important to go to the Haram shortly before the call to prayer was due. That gave us at least 20 minutes before the congregational prayer was held, which was enough to find a place which was not overcrowded. When prayers were over, we generally left either for rest at home or to do some shopping or to have a look around the city. The thought of doing more tawaf was highly appealing. Tawaf is an act of worship which can be offered voluntarily. Our next attempt at tawaf proved to be more difficult. We seem to have chosen the wrong time for it. We started immediately after Maghrib prayer feeling that it was the most natural thing to do in between Maghrib and Isha. Little did we realize that many thousands of pilgrims have had the same idea. Moreover, Makkah was receiving several thousand more pilgrims every day, and they all want to do their pilgrimage duty and have as much time as possible in the Haram. For the next tawaf, I thought that the middle of the night was the right time. Sure enough, it was easier to do the tawaf at that time. But the difference was only marginal. At anytime of day or night you arrived in the Haram, you were bound to see many thousands of people doing this great act of worship which is unique to the Kaaba, namely, the tawaf. It is only at the time when obligatory prayers are offered in congregation that the tawaf stops. Otherwise, the movement around the Kaaba was continuous. It never stops, even at noon in the hottest days of the year and in the depth of the coolest nights. I then hit on the idea that it was better for me, having completed my obligatory tawaf, to do my voluntary ones on the first floor. That would certainly enlarge my walking area several times. Perhaps every round is equal to, or even longer than, the seven rounds in the main area. That, however, did not worry me. I would be engaged in an act of worship and I would not be in the way of those who are doing their obligatory duty of tawaf. So, whenever I found time I went to do the tawaf on the first floor. When we go to the Haram or to the shops or walk around, we meet many people in their ihraam garments. For men, these are two pieces of cloth, one wrapped round the waist and stretching down midway between knees and ankles, while the other is thrown over the shoulders. Some have just arrived and will be proceeding with their Umrah like we did on arrival. Others have opted for one of the two other methods of ihraam, which are: Ifraad and Qiran. The ifraad method is to do the tawaf of arrival at first, and possibly the sa'ie without releasing oneself from ihraam afterward. One waits until the day of pilgrimage when all pilgrims attend at Arafat and releases oneself from ihraam on the day of sacrifice, after doing the stoning and shaving one's head or shortening one's hair. Such a person does not offer an Umrah prior to or in combination with his pilgrimage. He is not required to sacrifice a sheep and he may fulfill the duty of Umrah later. A person who opts for the qiran method makes his declaration clear that he wants to do the pilgrimage and Umrah together at the same time. When he arrives in Makkah, he does the duties of Umrah, in the same way as we have done, without shortening his hair and releasing himself from ihraam. He also waits until the day of sacrifice and when he has done the stoning, shaving and sacrificed a sheep, he releases himself from ihraam. In other words, he does exactly the same as the one doing the ifraad method, but his actions count for both Umrah and pilgrimage concurrently. He must sacrifice a sheep. For either pilgrim, all ihraam regulations must be observed from the time when he crosses the point of meeqat to the day of sacrifice. Ihraam is a state of consecration. Certain rules must be observed as long as one is in that state. A woman enters that state in her ordinary clothes, with a top dress which covers all her body and a scarf or head-dress which covers her head and goes down over her shoulders, covering her neck and bosom. She, however, leaves her face and forearms uncovered. If she covers her face, she violates the rules of ihraam. A man wears only the two pieces of cloth which we have already mentioned. He does not cover his head by anything. Nor is one allowed to wear perfume or cut one's hair. Contrary to what many people believe, a person in the state of consecration is allowed to have a bath, either to keep himself cool or for cleanliness. Most importantly, however, a person in the state of consecration refrains totally from conjugal relationship and its preliminaries. This restriction continues in force until one has offered the tawaf of ifaadah, or ziarah, which falls due on the day of sacrifice. Observing all these restrictions for several days is not easy at all. One's garments are bound to get dirty and although changing them is permissible, it is not easy for most pilgrims to have them washed. Moreover, one keeps them on at all times. It is a state which requires a conscious effort of observing every rule. It may be easy if one arrives shortly before the 8th of Dhul Hajjah, when pilgrims start on their journey to Mina in ihraam garments, even those who have opted for the tamattu' method like ourselves. If one arrives a few days or a week before that day, to continue all that time in the state of consecration is by no means easy. When one chooses the tamattu' method, one recognizes the great advantage which the Prophet had given us by strongly recommending this method of ihraam to us. On his own pilgrimage, he ordered his companions to change the method of ihraam they adopted to the tamattu' method, except for those who had brought their sacrifice with them from their starting points. As every day passes it brings the great day of pilgrimage nearer. Our expectation is heightened although we are absolutely content to stay in this blessed city and offer prayers in the Haram, doing the tawaf as often as we can manage. When three days were left to starting our journey to Mina and Arafat, I came home to find my wife in tears. I could not easily get out of her the reason for her sorrow. My mother, however, indicated that it was only because my wife has started her period. I tried to console her as much as I can. At first, she had it in her mind that her pilgrimage was spoiled. I explained to her that her period does not affect her pilgrimage in anyway. She can still go and do all her duties and rituals with the exception of visiting the Haram and doing the tawaf. All there was to it was that she would have to delay her tawaf of ifaadah until her period was over. I reminded her that she would have been even worse off, had she been in her period on arrival. She would have had to delay her tawaf of arrival or Umrah until she had finished her period. She was still unhappy about missing prayers in the Haram. That, however, could not be helped. I explained to her, however, that, Allah knew her intention and what she came here for. He was certain to reward her according to her intention. Her pilgrimage will earn her the same reward as mine or anybody else's. She was in no way negligent of any of her duties. Hence, her reward was bound to be as good as any. She was not satisfied until I told her that Aisha, the Prophet's wife, also had her period during pilgrimage. She was very unhappy about it, but the Prophet told her that her period did not affect her pilgrimage in any way, although she could not do her Umrah on arrival, like the Prophet's companions. My wife then said that she accepted the situation, although still feeling sorry for being unable to go to the Haram. I do not blame her. Being in the Haram at any time brings a feeling of happiness which we have not experienced before we came to this blessed city. At last, the 8th of Dhul-Hajjah has come and we start today on the most important journey in our lives. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 03 March 1997[/i] Insha Allah, more to follow... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

Re: A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/05/02 at 02:02:59
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 4[/center] It is the 8th of Dhul Hijjah and everyone is busy preparing for the great event. We re-enter into the state of consecration, or ihraam. This time, it is for pilgrimage itself. The feeling all around me is one of happy excitement. Everyone is thinking of tomorrow, when we hope to be at Arafat, which is the cornerstone of pilgrimage. If we are there after midday, then we are among the pilgrims this year. If not ... well, I cannot entertain that possibility in any way. I will only say that those who are not at Arafat tomorrow are not among this year's pilgrims. As for today, we want to proceed to Mina where we shall stay from midday till tomorrow morning. Mina is on our way to Arafat, which means that we are doing half of our journey today and leaving the rest for tomorrow. Some of the pilgrims who are guests of mutawifs are proceeding to Arafat later tonight. Almost every mutawif finds it easier to arrange the trip this way. It certainly makes for less congestion on the roads, but I made sure that we will stay in Mina tonight, as it is strongly recommended by the Prophet. He did likewise on his pilgrimage and we follow his example. Mina is a narrow valley in between mountains. The area is not that vast, and pilgrims have to stay here for three days after Arafat. With the number of pilgrims these years approaching three million, Mina is always overcrowded. This is a city which springs to life once a year for not more than three or four days, and remains deserted for the rest of the year. There are a few buildings, mostly hotels and government departments. Otherwise, pilgrims stay in tents, or even without them. In Mina, one feels every inch is occupied. One gets this feeling today, although more than one half of pilgrims have not arrived here. Pilgrims from every part in Saudi Arabia are still arriving in Makkah. Those who start from nearby cities and towns delay their journey till tomorrow. Moreover, many pilgrims go straight to Arafat tomorrow. One wonders what Mina will be like in two days time when all pilgrims will converge on it. There are no duties to perform today in Mina. All there is to do is to offer prayers, celebrate the praises of Allah and glorify Him. A thought occurred tome to explore the area. I have not walked long before I found myself in an open camp, with a large group of people assembled. I stood by and I found a man in the center answering questions on pilgrimage. People were eager to know their duties and how to perform them. The remarkable thing was that one could not distinguish between the scholar and the questioner. They are all alike in their uniform of ihraam. I ventured to put a question on the significance of wearing these garments. The scholar put it so well when he said that when we all look alike, every one of us is bound to feel his humility as he addresses Allah with talbiyah. He declares to him that he has responded to His call and has submitted to His will. As a mark of his submission he takes off all marks of distinction which may place him in a higher position to his fellow Muslims. Here we are all alike, humble servants seeking forgiveness. We do not know who of us has the greater load of sins. All we know is that we are equally eager to have our sins effaced. The mark of this worship, he added, is absolute dedication to Allah, setting aside everything that is associated with honor, position, distinction or pride. What can one say about his explanation? I had already felt this equality and humility when I looked all around me to find pilgrims in their ihraam garments. He only expressed in words what one is bound to feel as one goes through this experience. Going around, I discovered that there are so many assemblies like the one I have briefly attended. Everyone wants his pilgrimage to be perfect, or as perfect as possible. What is also rather surprising is that prayers are shortened. We pray Zuhr, Asr and Isha in two raka'ahs each. People might have thought that on a day like this we should pray more and longer prayers. As we go on with our pilgrimage we find that we avail ourselves of the concession given to travelers. This even includes the people from Makkah itself. It seems to me that with our minds preoccupied with a great act of worship, Allah has given us this concession on prayers to concentrate our thoughts on the duties of pilgrimage. We will soon discover that the concession is very useful. It was a very pleasant day which we have spent in Mina. Although we slept in a tent with only very thin covering over the hard earth, we slept well. We were up again at dawn for Fajr prayer. It seems to me that Mina has not slept. After Fajr, we have breakfast and proceed to Arafat. The day has arrived. It is our great day. The minibus provided for our journey to Arafat did not have enough seats. I and a few others went on top. That gave me a great advantage as I was able to observe better how pilgrims proceeded to Arafat. I would not have exchanged that experience for the world. So many roads with short distance between them were full of vehicles, all sorts of vehicles except small private cars which are not allowed on these roads on pilgrimage days. All are full of people, all of them wearing the same type of clothes. All are chanting the phrases of talbiyah which form a heavenly song repeated by a great chorus. From all vehicles the chanting comes loud: "Labbaika Allahumma labbaik. Labbaika la shareeka laka labbaik. Innal hamda wanni'mata laka wal mulk. La shareeka lak." As vehicles overtake one another or come parallel with one another, people wave and chant. All faces around me beam with happiness. If one talks to another pilgrim, smiles are always on faces. At times, smiles are all that is exchanged, because people cannot communicate with one another, not knowing one another's language. Nevertheless, they are here for the same purpose embarking on the same journey, doing the same duty. There is no end of vehicles. There seems to be no beginning either. The roads are heavily congested, with every little gap being filled straight away by an advancing vehicle. It is only to be expected that a traffic jam of this sort will develop on this day. Yet, we proceed relatively easily. We are not in a great hurry. We know that Arafat is not that far to walk. Moreover, the time to be there has not arrived yet. Considering that it is not necessary to be at Arafat right at the beginning of the time appointed, and that it is sufficient to be there for only a few minutes of day and a few minutes of night, we are not over-worried about being there on time. Sometimes, we are moving well. Occasionally we stop for a few minutes. We then proceed and we are covering reasonable distance. All our thoughts are concentrated on the great duty which lies ahead of us. We chant talbiyah in preparation, because it emphasizes the reason for our presence at this spot at this time. We are here because we are fulfilling a duty, repaying a debt which we owe to Allah. We seek nothing but His pleasure. We are after nothing but His reward. When one feels that by the end of the day all his sins will be forgiven, his slate will be wiped clean, one cannot but feel happy, very happy indeed. There ran be no greater happiness. Hence, we repeat talbiyah again, declaring to Allah that we are here in response to His call. It is He who has made it a duty on all mankind to offer the pilgrimage, when He told Abraham to announce that duty for mankind. Ever since, people are coming here for the same purpose. Praise be to Allah for enabling us to come here on this great day. I do not need to speak to my parents and my wife in the minibus in order to gauge their feelings. I know that they experience the same thing I am experiencing. It is a feeling of genuine happiness coupled with expectation and excitement at what may happen, or indeed what will happen. We arrive at Arafat where we encamp in large tents which have been erected specially for the day. Our mutawif has taken care to provide enough room for all his guests. Unlike Mina, Arafat is an open valley which can accommodate many more millions of people. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 10 March 1997[/i] Insha Allah, more to follow... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

Re: A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/06/02 at 01:38:48
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 5[/center] Today is the 9th of Dhul Hijjah and we are at Arafat. A short while ago, it was midday. We are here to attend on the grand day of pilgrimage which is the climax of our journey of a lifetime. We have listened on the wireless to the sermon given by the king's representative who is the leader of the pilgrimage this year. It was a comprehensive sermon, outlining the characteristics of the Muslim community and highlighting certain aspects of pilgrimage. Arafat is a wide valley, with a small hill in the middle, called the Mount of Mercy. On this day, it is covered with white and little black spots. That is because every inch of the mount is occupied by human being. People mistakenly think that the mount itself is a better place to be in on this day. We have, however, the Prophet's Hadith which says: "I have stopped here, but the whole of Arafat is equally good for attendance on this day. "In these days, when pilgrimage is in the summer, standing on the mount, exposed to the sun, may make many pilgrims suffer a sunstroke. For our part we have chosen to stay in the tent provided by our mutawif. The tent is barely sufficient to accommodate all the mutawif's guest pilgrims as they sat down. Some people started to introduce themselves to others and inquire where other pilgrims came from and what they did for a living. Soon, however, this line of conversation stopped and everybody was engaged in his worship. We offered our Zuhr and Asr prayers together and shortened at the time of Zuhr and we sat down for our talbiyah. Some people did their talbiyah separately, which is the proper thing to do. Others joined in a chorus, raising their voices loud. "Labbaik Allahumma labbaik. Labbaika la shareeka laka labbaik. Innal hamda wan-ni'mata laka walmulk. La shareeka lak." For periods of time you heard nothing except these phrases being repeated again and again, in fine melodious tune which came naturally, but sounded better than a most beautiful symphony played by the greatest orchestra. The reason is that everybody felt the meaning of this talbiyah, and shared in its message of total dedication to Allah. There is nothing in this valley to attract anyone to come here. People, however, come from the remotest comer of the world, feeling that attendance here on this day, at this time, is the pinnacle of their lifetime. Since we have prayed Asr, there is nothing more to pray before sunset. Our Maghrib prayer will be offered somewhere else. I imagine that if a stranger looked at a tent like ours, crowded with people, all wearing very simple garments, consisting of nothing more than two pieces of cloth, doing nothing except repeating these phrases in chorus or on their own, he would be at a loss to understand what we are doing and why we are here. He will be amazed at seeing such a number of people, who have apparently come from different parts of the world, and who speak different languages, joining in the same chorus, repeating a never-ending piece of music, not played on instruments, but expressed in words. He will not fail to observe, however, that music meant a great deal to every single one of us. That is the remarkable thing about it. It embodies a message of total submission to Allah and a renewed pledge to abide by the requirements of faith. We stopped for lunch and renewed our ablution. It was burning hot. The water in metal containers was hot although they have been filled only a couple of hours ago. Plenty of drinks were available, water was distributed free. This is a great change from what pilgrims used to suffer in the past when water was scarce and there was very little available by way of soft drinks. Nowadays everything a pilgrim may need is available. After lunch, some of our companions in the tent seemed to doze off. They woke up again presently, feeling that they have been wasting valuable time. The thing to do here is to make use of every minute in prayer, talbiyah and glorification of Allah. This is a great day when Allah rewards His servants who have undertaken the journey of pilgrimage with forgiveness and much more. Gratitude for this generous reward must be shown. People were standing or sitting here and there addressing their Lord and absorbed in supplication. This is the time to appeal to Allah to grant all our desires and wishes. I went over to call my wife from the tent provided for women, making sure that she and my mother were well supplied with drinks and that they had their lunch. I was about to turn back when my wife expressed her being uneasy about being in the period on this great day. Again, I had to explain to her that being in the period is no fault of hers. She can do exactly as other pilgrims, repeating all the talbiyah and glorification of Allah she wanted. She could pray Him for anything she desired. Her attendance at Arafat was just as valid as that of any other pilgrim. Her reward was the same. She could address Allah and supplicate to Him. The only thing that she could not do was regular prayers. The exemption from praying for women in the period applies here as it applies in all other places. Reassured, her face radiated with happiness. She said she could not thank me enough for bringing her here. My mother joined in and followed that with an earnest prayer for me. I was so gratified and happy. A mother's prayer for her son is always answered. When it comes on such a day, in such a place, as an expression of a genuine feeling of happiness, it more than compensates for the hard work I have had to put in order to save enough money for this journey. Returning back to the men's tent, I was absorbed for nearly an hour in glorification of Allah and supplicating to Him. I prayed for everyone I could remember of my relatives, friends, neighbors and associates. I followed that with a prayer on behalf of everyone who asked me to pray for him and I have unwittingly left him out. There is something special about supplication in this place. One feels himself to be in the presence of Allah, addressing Him directly, and that He, in His majesty, is listening to His servants' supplication and granting them all their wishes. This is what is meant by the Hadith which states that Allah casts a glance at the pilgrims on the day of Arafat and calls all His angels to witness that He has forgiven all the sins committed by all those who are present at Arafat in their past. The sun begins to go down, and people are still engaged in their supplication and talbiyah. They feel that they cannot glorify and thank Allah enough for His blessings. With about an hour to go for sunset, the mutawif and his assistants begin to prepare for the return journey. We were asked to gather our belongings and put them in the coaches and minibuses which have been provided for us. At that moment, I remembered a friend who had done the pilgrimage in the past telling me that the best thing to do on the return journey is to walk. I felt the desire to act on his suggestion. Realizing that my parents may not be up to that task, I approached them reluctantly. I suggested that they go back by minibus while I go back walking. I gave my wife the choice to join me or to join them. She was keen to come with me. To my surprise, they wanted to do the same. I tried to counsel them against it, but they said that they might not be able to come on pilgrimage again. It was a chance not to be missed. My mother for whose health I was concerned was the most enthusiastic. I had to give in. I spoke to the mutawif and borrowed a couple of blankets from him. He reminded me that we must not leave the boundaries of Arafat before the sun had set. We said good-bye and began to move. When we went out, the procession of vehicles of all sorts and shapes began to form. None was moving except to take its position in line. Everyone was waiting for the sun to set. It is most important to be present at Arafat for part of the day and part of the night. This is different from the case of a person who does not arrive at Arafat until after the sun has set. In his case, presence for a part of the night is adequate for him to be deemed as having fulfilled the pilgrimage. Those who are at Arafat during the day must not leave before nightfall. We moved about between cars and tents. The great city which had erupted here for the day was beginning to be wound up. Soon there will be nothing left, except traces of what had been. Yet people were still on the Mount of Arafat, otherwise known as the Mount of Mercy. Others were still engaged in their talbiyah and supplication. Some were looking after certain needs, buying food or drink. The scene was great. You could not fail to sense that genuine feeling of happiness, brotherhood and satisfaction. People's eyes met for the first time and a smile of happiness is exchanged. You greet a person, he replies with the same greeting, but you realize immediately that he could not speak Arabic. What has brought those people together is simply their faith. It is a faith that creates this bond of brotherhood among them. There is still some distance before we gain the route specially paved for pedestrians. The sun has almost set off. At a distance, we can see the mosque of Namirah which is on the boundary of Arafat. By the time we reach it, the night will have fallen and we would have met the condition of combining day and night at Arafat. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 17 March 1997[/i] Insha Allah, more to follow... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

Re: A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/06/02 at 23:51:18
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 6[/center] The light of the day has disappeared and darkness gathered thicker and thicker. We have gained the pedestrian route from Arafat to Muzdalifah. The route is wide enough to take six cars easily. But cars are not allowed here. It is one of two routes constructed specially for those who wish to make their journey through Muzdalifah and back to Mina on foot. Wide as it is, it is full of people - row after row after row in a long procession. I do not know how far ahead it stretches, but I can assume that the procession started with sunset, more than half an hour ago. More people are coming behind us in wave after wave, as if all two million or more of pilgrims have decided to join this procession and walk back to Muzdalifah. Yet there are several routes for vehicles and we can see them on both sides. Each one is full of vehicles, heavily congested with traffic. It seems we have made the right choice by deciding to walk back, for the atmosphere here is pleasant, relaxed, happy. As we walk we repeat the very familiar phrases of talbiyah. The route is well lit up, with stalls on both sides selling food, drinks, fruit and other items. This must be something introduced recently, for my friend who told me about his experience mentioned that he walked in darkness. That was several years ago. The Saudi government continues to improve facilities for pilgrims. May Allah reward them for the care they take of us. How do I describe this procession? You have to see it in order to appreciate what sort of procession it is. You look around you and you see people who belong to widely different areas. These are Africans, and those are Asians, but what about this third group? Are they Europeans, or do they come from further afield? It is a cosmopolitan procession, with people joining in from all corners of the world. You see people who are white, black, brown and yellow. All have the same purpose. All doing the same thing, all wearing the same garments, all sharing in a feeling of happiness which has come to them from somewhere out of this world. They all form a chorus repeating a song set to a certain tune. It is an angelic tune which fills everybody's heart with great emotions. It is certainly not borrowed from Beethoven or Mozart. It does not have the rhythm which makes people tap their feet or sway their heads with enchantment. Yet it is much more inspiring. It penetrates far deeper into our souls. The song we are hearing is not a record by Abdul Wahhab, the famous Egyptian singer. Those who are chanting the words do not have a voice which remotely resembles that of Fairooz, or even the least known of singers. But nobody here cares about the quality of the singing, they are more concerned with the words. These are the ones we have repeated thousands of times since we have embarked on this blessed journey. No one feels that he has had enough. How can he, when every time he repeats these phrases, he earn a reward and draws closer to Allah. "Labbaik Allahumma labbaik. Labbaika la shareeka laka labbaik. Innaal hamda wanni'mata laka walmulk. La shareeka lak." This is the song which is repeated in a great variety of accents, set to music with unending variations. However the words are pronounced, and in whatever tune they are set and with any rhythm they are repeated, they have the same inspiring effect. "Here we come, our Lord, to respond to your call, to fulfill our duty and to pay our debt. Here we come to glorify You alone, declaring that you have no partners. Here we come, having set aside every mark of distinction, position, honor. Here we come, having rid ourselves of all the cares of this world, seeking your pleasure, declaring our submission to you in total humility. Here we come, our Lord, hoping for nothing more than Your acceptance and forgiveness. Forgive us our sins that we have committed in ignorance and give us the reward that You have promised Your obedient servants." I look at my parents and my wife and ask whether they would like to rest for a little while. None of them finds the walk tiring. Their happiness seems to have reduced all other feelings to a very secondary position. My mother says it is the happiest stroll she has ever experienced in her life. My father confirms that he feels the same. This is no surprise to me, because that is exactly my feeling. We walk on, and so does everyone around us. Young, able-bodied people, walking side by side with elderly, weak people. Here is a woman who must be over 70 years of age, carrying a load in her hand and walking. A young man approaches her and offers to carry her load for her. They do not seem to speak the same language but with gestures they understood each other. He helps and they walk along. But what do I see here? A young man carrying his aged father on his back and walking along. Both are in their ihraam garments. The old man seems to be an invalid. This must be the moment he has cherished and hoped for all his life. But what a dutiful and caring son he has. This is the sort of dutifulness which can be expected only from a Muslim. Muslims know that they owe a great deal to their parents. Whatever they do for their sake, they remain short of full repayment of their debts to them. Both father and son are repeating the same phrases of talbiyah, joining in with the same chorus. Everyone seems to find this angelic tune which accompanies these words set by the Prophet most inspiring. It is a little over two hours since we have started our relaxed walk. We have reached Muzdatifah. I suggested to my parents that we walk on until we are closer to its boundaries nearer to Mina, so that we have less to walk in the morning. They approve this suggestion and we walk on repeating the same words and the same tune. Who can feel tired of declaring to Allah that he believes in His Oneness and that he ascribes no partners with Him. We pass by the mosque of Muzdalifah which is the place named in the Qur'an as "Al-Mash'ar Al-Haraam". We move on until we cover about three quarters of Muzdalifah, before we decide to stop. It is not yet midnight, and all pilgrims have stopped here. All vehicles have taken their parking positions because no one is supposed to leave this place before midnight. Indeed, the proper thing to do is to stay the night here. The Prophet, however, allowed women and elderly people to proceed shortly after midnight to Mina. The concession is applicable to all, if they want to use it, but it is infinitely better to everyone who can to stay here till the morning. This is what we intend to do. The first thing to be done here is to pray Maghrib and Isha. We spread our blankets and prepare for prayers. Other pilgrims come and join us. My wife sits to one side, because she cannot join in our prayer since she is in the period. There is a congregational prayer every 30 or 40 yards. Everybody wants to offer the two obligatory prayers, one after the other, with Isha reduced to two rakaas, in order to follow the example of the Prophet. When we have finished our prayers, we have a snack of fruit which I bought a short while ago for supper. There is nothing to do now except sleep. My mother says that she does not want to sleep; she wants to enjoy the scene. I told her that we have a heavy task ahead of us tomorrow, and if we can have some rest, it is all for the better. I lie down. I remember that the Prophet himself has slept in this place. Here we lie, like he did, on the hard ground, using our slippers for pillows and without any need for any cover. I wake up shortly before dawn, having heard other pilgrims starting to move around. I wake up everyone, and look for water to have ablution. There is plenty around. Pipes and taps have been provided here in order to be used for just this single night every year. When we are ready, we offer our Fajr prayer and begin our second great day of pilgrimage. This is the day of sacrifice, the day of the Eid, and we have a busy day ahead of us. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 24 March 1997[/i] Insha Allah, more to follow... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

Re: A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/08/02 at 04:57:39
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 7[/center] We rose up shortly before dawn from our sweet slumber on the hard ground at Muzdalifah. This is the place at which Allah instructs us in the Qur'an to remember Him and celebrate His praises. When we prayed Fajr, we felt relaxed, fresh, ready to resume our blessed journey which symbolized a break away with everything we had done in the past and which was not acceptable to Allah. After Fajr, we glorify Allah, praise Him and supplicate to Him. There is no set prayer to say here, one should pray as he feels and for whatever he wishes. We spend close to an hour in this attitude with the morning freshness adding to our pleasant feeling of happiness. When the light of day begins to be bright, and just before sunrise, we resume our walk toward Mina. The same scene of the night is continuing now, the only difference being that we can see people much more clearly. The same song, with its angelic music is repeated again and again, in every accent and with a very wide range of variation on its musical theme. No one seems to have had enough of it. How can you have enough of declaring to Allah that you believe in His Oneness and that you associate no partners with Him? We cross the boundaries of Muzdalifah and soon we find ourselves in the Muhassar Valley. Here we speed up our walk, because it was in this valley, sometime around 1450 years ago, in the same year when the Prophet was born, that Allah destroyed Abrahah, the Abyssinian military commander and his army when he was heading to Makkah where he wanted to destroy the Kaaba. The Prophet teaches us to walk fast here because it is the place where Allah destroyed His enemies. When we have left it, we enter Mina. Unlike Muzdalifah, Mina is built up with tents, ranging next to each other. Every inch of the Mina Valley is utilized for these few days. No space is spared, because Mina can hardly accommodate the number of pilgrims that we see nowadays. As we walk with people from all parts of the world walking with us, repeating talbiyah, the roads not far away are still heavily congested with pilgrim traffic. There also, pilgrims are repeating the angelic tune with its fine words. We still have a long distance to walk, because our camp is on the other side of Mina. We stop to have some breakfast: Fruit and drinks. We do not want to take much time because the day promises to be very hot. We move forward with the procession which seems never-ending. I believe that the beginning is right at the Jamrahs, at the end of Mina, while its end should be right back in Muzdalifah. In other words, it stretches more than seven or eight kilometers. At last, we arrive in our camp. We sit down to have a cup of tea and rest for a while. It is still early morning. I explained to my parents and my wife what duties we have to accomplish today. The first was the stoning at the Grand or First Jamrah. Knowing that the place will be heavily crowded at this time, I suggested to my parents that they delay stoning until late in the day or till the evening. I took leave of them and took the seven pebbles I had picked up at Muzdatifah and left. I re-joined the procession and repeating phrases of talbiyah I went on till I reached the jamrahs. There is only one jamrah to stone today, namely, the Grand Jamrah. When I arrived there I saw that the authorities have built up the area so that pilgrims can do the stoning on two levels. Not wishing to be in the midst of the great crowd on the lower floor, I took my way to the upper level. I wanted to make sure that my position was the correct one, with Mina to my right and Makkah to my left, but that was not easy. I had, therefore, to be content with drawing near enough to make sure that all my pebbles landed at the right spot. I threw the stones repeating the name of Allah and saying, "Allahu akbar", before throwing every single one of them. When I threw all seven I moved to one side and said a prayer. I immediately went away in order to leave room for other people to do their duty. I went right back to the other end of Mina, heading for the slaughter place. On my walk this time I did not repeat the phrases of talbiyah. That ends when one does the stoning on the first day. As I walked, my thoughts were concentrated on the scenes all around me. This is a unique place. One cannot really imagine it on hearing reports of what it is like. One can say, however, that everywhere one sees faces beaming with happiness. My mother used to say: "There is no feast like that of Mina." I am now in Mina on the day of the feast, or the Eid. Her words are absolutely true. Eid is associated with happiness and pleasure. There can be no greater happiness. The way I felt last night and this morning reflects my absolute happiness. I felt very light, as if a burden which had weighed very heavily on me had been removed altogether. That burden is created by my past sins and mistakes. Now that these have been forgiven, I feel light, I can move more easily, more freely. This is not an abstract idea. It is very real. At last I arrived at the slaughterhouse. To my amazement, the scenes which we used to hear about in the past are no longer there. People used to speak of slaughtered animals thrown away like rubbish. Nobody cared to pick the meat or to take it away. Now, very few sheep are being actually slaughtered. I see a small window where vouchers are being sold. I learned that one could buy a voucher which entitled him to receive a sheep. If he, on the other hand, surrendered the voucher after receiving it and paying its price, he actually appointed the Islamic Development Bank to do the slaughter on his behalf. The bank would make sure of distributing the meat to the poor in the Haram area and transport whatever is left, which is a great amount, to areas in the Muslim world which have been stricken by famine or suffer great poverty. This is a good use of sacrificial meat. I bought four vouchers and surrendered them immediately and went back to the camp. The two duties took me close to three hours. It was nearly mid-day when I arrived there. I was very tired. When my parents learned from me what I had done, they blessed me and prayed for me. I sat down in front of my father and he shaved my head for me. When he had finished, I released myself from ihraam and wore my own clothes. This was the first release which meant that all restrictions of ihram were removed with the exception of sex. That restriction remains in force until I have done the tawaf of ifaadah. We sat in our tent, because there was nothing else to do. It was very hot and it was necessary to stay in the shade. After having prayed and eaten, I fell asleep. When it was well after Asr, I took my parents and my wife to the jamrah to do the stoning. I hoped that it would not be as congested as it was in the morning. When my mother was selecting her pebbles from the ones she gathered in Muzdalifah, I could not fail to note that they were too big. When I pointed that out to her, she said: "Are we not stoning Satan? I want to make sure to hit him very hard." That was a very simplistic view of stoning. I explained to her that Satan is not there to be hurt. Otherwise, he would have died long ago with all the stoning pilgrims every year do. Stoning is a symbolic action, making us remember that we are engaged in a never-ending battle against Satan and all that he represents. We stone at the Jamrahs commemorating Abraham's action when Satan tried to dissuade him from sacrificing his son, in response to Allah's order. Abraham stoned him in order to be able to do what Allah has bid him. My mother said: "What shall I do now? Do I have to go back to Muzdalifah to pick new pebbles?" I explained that one could use any pebbles, which may be picked up in Mina. She picked up new smaller ones and we went ahead. Arriving at the jamrahs about half an hour before sunset, we found that both my father and the two ladies could do the stoning by themselves, because there were not a great deal of people around the jamrah. When they have done the stoning, we went back to our camp. My father wanted to pray Maghrib in the mosque known as Al-Kheef. It was overcrowded, and my wife and mother would have had to wait for us outside. It was preferable that we go back to pray in our camp, which we did. My father did not wish to shave his head. He thought shortening would be sufficient. I shortened his hair a bit and he released himself from ihram as did the two ladies. We had to think of the tawaf of ifaadah, a main duty of pilgrimage which fell due today. Now, however, we could not go to Makkah because there was an immediate duty to fulfill, namely, staying the night at Mina. We will think about that duty tomorrow, Allah willing. Thus ended the second great day of pilgrimage. Our happiness was beyond description. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 31 March 1997[/i] Insha Allah, more to follow... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

Re: A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/09/02 at 03:08:33
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 8[/center] After we prayed Isha on the 10th of Dhul-Hajjah, the day of sacrifice, which witnessed our first stoning at the jamrah, our duty was to stay the night a Mina. Pilgrims are supposed to stay a minimum of two and a maximum of three nights at Mina, stoning at the jamrahs in the afternoon of each following day. Both staying and stoning is a duty the omission of which requires compensation by way of slaughtering a sheep. If one misses both duties, one must sacrifice two sheep. It was not long after we had our dinner that we fell asleep. It is amazing how soundly one can sleep in this place, despite the absence of all the comforts one is used to. Fulfillment of the pilgrimage duties is bound to make one tired and by early evening one is ready to sleep in spite of all the noise and bustling movement which continues throughout the night. One rises very early, however, in order to pray Fajr at the most appropriate time. After Fajr, it is difficult to go back to sleep. We have been out of our camp for a stroll and to look at other pilgrims. One is never tired of the scenes of pilgrims from all over the world fulfilling the same duties at the same time. The genuine feeling of brotherhood is enhanced by the awareness that all these millions of people have the same motive for coming here and aspire for the same prize. Moreover, there is a drive for excellence which is common to all of them. It is the sort of competition in which the person who wins does not deprive the others of their chance to be winners at the same level. We have developed friendships over the last few days and we inquire after our friends, visiting only those whose tents are known to us. We will inquire after the others when we go to Makkah. We have to think of tawaf of ifaadah. This is a duty which must be offered personally by every pilgrim. It is a duty for which no compensation is possible, if omitted. The best time for it was yesterday, but that would have meant that we go to Makkah in the afternoon, for I had not finished the stoning and sacrifice duties until about midday. Had we gone to Makkah, my parents and my wife might have missed their duty of stoning at the proper time. If we left it till the evening, we ran the risk of being unable to come back before midnight, thus missing the duty of staying in Mina. Moreover, it would have been very tiring for my parents, after their long walk the previous night. Since it is quite permissible to delay this tawaf for several days, I thought it was better to leave it till today at the earliest. When it was well in the afternoon, and after Asr prayer, we set out from our camp in order to do the stoning at the three jamrahs. We picked up our pebbles in Mina, this time 21 little stones for each of us, since we had to do the stoning at the three jamrahs. I was not certain how crowded the place would be, since the time of stoning today did not fall until midday, while it was to stone at the jamrah yesterday at sunrise. When we reached the first jamrah, we decided to use the upper floor, since we knew it would be less crowded. I wanted to make sure that my parents and my wife would be able to do the stoning comfortably. So I asked them to wait for me at a nearby place and went to gauge the crowd. I realized it was impossible for them to push their way through that crowd. To start with, women must not attempt to go in the midst of a crowd of men, especially if they were scrambling in a limited area. My father suffered occasionally from difficulty of breathing. I went back to them and offered them the choice of either to allow me to do the stoning on their behalf, or to come back later, after nightfall, to do the stoning by themselves. It was certain that they would have a better chance then of doing the stoning by themselves. They were keen to do their duty themselves, so they decided to come later. As for myself, there was no reason why I should not do the stoning at its appropriate time, that is, before sunset. I went ahead and did it, throwing seven little stones at each jamrah. We returned to the jamrahs after Isha prayer, and all three of them were able to throw their stones comfortably. There were other women and old men doing the same, availing themselves of the relaxation of the period of time in which they had to do the stoning. After considering all options open to us, with regard to the tawaf of ifaadah, we decided that our best option was to start our journey to Makkah after midnight that night. In so doing, we would have fulfilled the condition of staying at Mina, because we would have stayed there more than half of the night. We hoped that the tawaf would not be heavily overcrowded. About two hours before dawn, we set off from our camp. It was not difficult to find a vehicle to take us to the Haram. When we arrived there, we felt the relaxed, happy atmosphere which everyone experiences in the Haram. There were only three of us, this time, because my wife had not finished her period yet. She stayed in the camp in Mina with the rest of our group. Sure enough, the tawaf was crowded, but it was nothing like what it was like in the two days immediately preceding our departure for Mina and Arafat. We managed to do the tawaf on the ground floor, but it took us about an hour to complete. Added to all the normal exciting feelings of doing tawaf, and all the happiness that one feels as one walks round the Kaaba, was the feeling that this was the most important tawaf of pilgrimage. There was no way we could attempt to kiss the black stone, because we did not want to get into the unnecessary scramble over it. We were bound to push others and be pushed, which was not the way to go about fulfilling an act of worship. We, therefore, made the signal of raising our hands every time we got parallel with the black stone. After we completed our seven rounds, we prayed two rak'ahs well beyond Maqam Ibraheem, so that we did not inconvenience people walking their tawaf. When we completed all the voluntary things associated with tawaf, (i.e. its Sunnahs), it was not long before Fajr prayer was due. We, therefore, decided to wait for Fajr before doing our sa'ie of pilgrimage. We duly started it immediately after finishing Fajr prayer. This time, we found the ground floor very heavily congested, so we decided to do it at the upper floor, where we found sa'ie much more relaxed. The number of those who did the sa'ie at the upper floor did not exceed one quarter of those who were doing it downstairs. Obviously, people think that the proper place to do the sa'ie is downstairs. That way of thinking is mistaken, otherwise it would not have been allowed to do the sai'e at the upper floor in the first place. All scholars agree that if pilgrims do the sa'ie at the upper floor in order to reduce the congestion, their sa'ie is equally valid. This sa'ie was, for us, the sa'ie of pilgrimage, since we have opted for the tamattu' method of ihram. Those who chose either of the other two methods of ihram, i.e. the ifraad or the qiran methods, might have offered the sa'ie when they did their first tawaf. In that case, they would not be required to do another sa'ie after their tawaf of ifaadah. When we completed our sa'ie, we returned to Mina straight away, knowing that our mutawwif wanted most, if not all of his guest pilgrims to depart from Mina today. When we arrived there, people had already started putting their things on coaches. We were told that some of the pilgrims have already gone for stoning. That was very strange, since stoning does not fall due until midday. Announcements were made by loud speakers everywhere that stoning before Dhuhr was due was not valid. Yet people overlooked this fact. I spoke to the mutawwif, who seemed eager to have all his pilgrims ready to depart in a couple of hours. He tried to persuade me that according to a certain school of thought stoning before midday was permissible as a concession. This was not the ruling to follow because it does not rely on any strong evidence. We considered the option of staying that night in Mina, which would have meant that we stayed until midday the following day when we could do the stoning again before departing to Makkah. Our mutawwif was not cooperative on this point, because he wanted to decamp that day. Finally, I suggested to my parents that they and my wife leave on the coach provided by the mutawwif and wait for me in our room at his place. They would ask me to do the stoning on their behalf for that day. This they did, and we put our things on the coach which was due to depart shortly after midday. It was not possible for them to do the stoning before they left, because the rush would be unbearable for them. The coach departed slowly and was lost in the traffic congestion. I waited in the same area for a while and proceeded to the mosque of Al-Kheef in Mina. I stayed there reciting the Qur'an, and prayed Asr when it was due. Following an experienced pilgrim's advice, I waited for another hour before I proceeded to do the stoning. At the first jamrah, I threw seven stones for iyself, then I did the same for my father, then for my mother and last for my wife, throwing seven stones separately on behalf of each one of them. I then proceeded to the second jamrah and did the same, before finishing at the Grand Jamrah, throwing seven stones for each one of us. It was easy to do the stoning, there was little congestion or rush at that time. Most of the pilgrims have done their stoning already. Had my parents and my wife stayed with me, they would have been able to do the stoning themselves. I stood a little aside and prayed for myself, my parents, my children and my wife and everyone else I knew. I then proceeded to leave Mina. The jamrahs are close to its boundary, and it was necessary for me to leave the boundaries of Mina before sunset. If I was still in Mina at sunset, I would have had to stay that night there and do the stoning again the following day. Since I had to join my parents and my wife, I made sure of being out of Mina about half an hour before sunset. There was now the problem of finding transport to take me to Makkah. All vehicles were full to capacity with some of them using the top for additional space. I felt that it might be quicker to walk, but the distance was quite a long one. It was not easy to find room on any vehicle. In fact, it was only on account of this problem that my parents and my wife left on the mutawwif's coach. If the worst came to the worst, I would be able to walk the distance, but it would have been very difficult for them to do the same. Eventually, I managed to squeeze myself on top of a bus and proceeded on the slow journey to Makkah. When I arrived at our mutawwif's place, I found out that my parents and my wife had arrived safely about an hour earlier. Now that almost all our duties of pilgrimage have been completed, the only duty we have to do, i.e. the tawaf of farewell must be delayed until shortly before our departure from Makkah. Our plan, however, was to stay a few more days in this blessed city. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 07 April 1997[/i] Insha Allah, last article to appear tomorrow... Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)

Re: A Pilgrim's Diary
Haniff
01/09/02 at 23:26:21
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh [center]A Pilgrim's Diary - 9[/center] We have a few days before we leave Makkah. Visiting the Haram on the day following our arrival back from Mina, we felt that the tawaf was so heavily congested that it took people twice the time it took us on other busy days of pilgrimage. There were people doing their tawaf of ifaadah, not having had a chance to fulfil that duty in the previous days. There were many others, mostly pilgrims from Saudi Arabia itself, doing their tawaf of farewell, which is the final duty we have left. When my wife finished her period, she was eager to do her tawaf of ifaadah. Fearing that the tawaf would still be very heavy, I tried to persuade her to postpone it for a couple of days more, but she felt she could not wait any longer, because everybody else had finished his or hers. I took her to the Haram to offer that tawaf, and to my surprise, the number of people doing it has dropped markedly. Obviously, the rush continues for about two days when most pilgrims from all over Saudi Arabia would have finished their tawaf and set on their journey back home. That gave us the chance to do tawaf more often. Every day I would try to take the opportunity to do tawaf at least once, choosing the time when the place was less busy, which was invariably very late at night. Three days later, it was time for us to leave for Madinah. We were traveling by coach. It was necessary to delay the tawaf of farewell as much as possible so that it is the last action we do in Makkah. Making sure of the time of departure of our coach, I allowed us two and a half hours to attend to that tawaf and go to the coach station. We packed our luggage and settled everything which needed settlement and left the luggage at the mutawwif's place. We proceeded then to the Haram and did our tawaf of farewell which was exactly the same as any other tawaf. When we finished, we praised Allah and thanked Him for enabling us to come for pilgrimage and fulfill our duly of Haj and Umrah. We also praised Him to facilitate for us a return visit in the not very distant future. The time passed so quickly and we had to leave. None of us wanted to leave that blessed place. It was almost like wrenching ourselves away from it. Tears were in our eyes and a resolution was formulating within us that we will not miss a chance to come again for pilgrimage or for Umrah. When we left the Haram, we took a taxi to the mutawwif's place and collected our luggage and went to the coach station. Soon we were on our way to Madinah. We are leaving one blessed place for another. That is perhaps a consolation for us. We are looking forward to visiting the Prophet's Mosque and paying our greetings to the Prophet. The journey takes over 5 hours on the modern motorway which connects the two blessed cities. The desert stretches on both sides of the motorway, far into the unknown. Recollections of events in the early history of Islam are now in my mind. These are the areas where many events have taken place. The struggle of Islam to establish itself in Makkah, the siege imposed on it by the polytheists, the attempts to break that siege by expansion into near and distant areas like Taif and Abyssinia, then the emigration by Muslims from Makkah to Madinah, the wars that took place between the two sides, the eventual triumph of Islam and its spread throughout Arabia. These areas have been blessed by the struggle of the companions of the Prophet for the cause of Islam. Allah has blessed this land with their struggle, so that it has remained ever since the stronghold of this religion. It does not matter much that other people in other lands continue to oppose Islam, it will always find a safe place here. Blessed be this land and honored be its people. At last we arrived in Madinah. We could not wait for our first visit to the Prophet's Mosque, but we had to make arrangements first for our accommodation. When this was finished, we had ablution and proceeded to the mosque. Madinah was absolutely full with pilgrims who came for their visit here. The mosque, big and greatly extended as it is, could not accommodate more than one quarter of the visitors who were keen to offer every obligatory prayer with the congregation. We managed, at last, to make our way inside the mosque but we could not pray in the rawdah, which is the area between the Prophet's rooms and the minbar, or pulpit, he used when he addressed his companions. It was always overcrowded. We managed, however, eventually to get to the right spot in front of the Prophet's grave. We stood there in all humility and greeted the Prophet saying: "Assalamu alaika ya rassoola Allah wa rahmatu Allahi wa barkatuh." This is the general greeting used by Muslims all the time, but it is addressed this time to Allah's messenger. We followed that with a declaration confirming that he had conveyed to us Allah's message complete and had been faithful to his trust, and had given good counsel to all mankind when he urged them to accept the faith of Islam and submit themselves to Allah. We prayed Allah to enable us to keep on the right track, as followers of the Prophet. We followed that with supplication to Allah for almost everything we could think of. We conveyed to the Prophet the greetings of people who had asked us to do that. We then left that area to give a chance to other people to do like we did. We sat elsewhere in the mosque, waiting for the next obligatory prayer. When that was finished, we went back home. It was our plan to stay in Madinah for 10 days. Most people believe that the proper duration of a visit to Madinah is eight days, to enable one to offer 40 obligatory prayers in the Prophet's Mosque. I have learned, however, that this is a mistaken notion. Prayers in the Prophet's Mosque are given a reward 1,000 times greater than prayers elsewhere. It follows that the more prayers one offers in that mosque, the greater his reward. Since we were not pressured for time, we could afford to stay longer than eight days, and we were planning to do that. People who cannot afford the time can make a visit to Madinah lasting only a few hours, should they wish to do so. For the whole duration of our stay, we attended every single obligatory prayer in the mosque, sometimes having to pray well outside in the squares surrounding the mosque. At other times, we went to the mosque very early and we managed to find a place inside. In between prayers, and especially in the morning, we attended to our other affairs, visiting places in Madinah and around it, doing some shopping and buying gifts for people back home. In the later stages of our visit, the number of visitors began to decrease, as many pilgrims started their journey back home. When our visit was completed, we went to the mosque to greet the Prophet for the last time, and bid farewell to the Prophet's Mosque. We then proceeded on our journey back to Jeddah where we took the plane back home. This was the most enjoyable, most exciting and happiest journey I have ever made. As I was in the plane, I resolved that I will take the opportunity to come again. One cannot have too much of something which is absolutely good, beneficial and rewarding. [i]"Islam in Perspective" - Arab News - 14 April 1997[/i] [center]~~~ C O N C L U D E D ~~~[/center] Wassalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Haniff (with 2 f's)
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